Scripture to reflect upon: Luke 7:36-38 (The Message)
Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume.

Healing was typically the main event for Jesus. Surprisingly, one day Jesus took that healing to a whole new level by forgiving a man’s sins. The crowd was bewildered at what had just taken place, because at that moment He began the real healing: inner emotional wounds.

For the most part, “sinners” are not living a life of sin because they enjoy it. I know from my experience and others in my sin-circle, that most of our sinning was based around something from our past that led us onto an entirely different path. A course we never planned on.

I loved to dance and sing and play guitar as a child. I loved tap dance and ballet. I often sung in choirs and did solo performances. I played guitar like a classical genius. However, I was molested when I was eleven.

Right in the midst of all these amazing things going on in my life, I watched my first step-dad beat my mother. I spent countless hours in a bar watching people drink their lives away in a dark, empty hole. It was my first step-dad who molested me when I began to show that I was no longer a child, but a budding woman-in-the-making. One night, instead of raging against my mother, he instead locked himself in my room with his whiskey breath and stubby fingers. I played dead, but I felt his hands on me for weeks, even months. My life from that moment on took a totally different turn: away from God, away from hope for a future.

I lived a very wild rock ‘n roll lifestyle up until I got saved in 1998. I met many famous rock stars, even dated a few. I rode on tour buses and even went on tour with a band for three days. I was also addicted to cocaine and alcohol. I seemed to give myself away on a daily basis without much thought. My pain was overwhelming sometimes. My heart was never fulfilled, and my soul ached for something I didn't understand. I longed to be loved and tried to find it in all the wrong places.

As a Christian, I aspire to be like Mary, Jesus’ mother. She was a faithful, pure-hearted servant, and God’s chosen daughter. As wonderful as that fantasy sounds for my life, I must confess my reality is the town harlot.

I didn’t start out as the town harlot, and it’s not going to end that way either. I ventured into life as a Mary, but life robbed me of my innocence and changed my course. Thankfully, God remembered that little girl’s pure heart and kept His promise to love her unconditionally, no matter what she became in the long run. He had other plans.

The day I got saved I fell all over Jesus, kissing His feet and anointing them with expensive perfume (my tears, my innocence, my dreams). Like the town harlot, I weep for joy because of His great mercy and desire to heal my inner wounds.

NOTE TO SELF: Thank You, Jesus, for healing our inner wounds and giving us a second chance at a life we thought we’d never see again.